Vandana Ramnani Moneycontrol News
A group led by Lakshdeep Investments & Finance, the highest bidder for embattled real estate firm Jaypee Infratech Ltd, is open to revising its offer that was rejected by lenders after one month of intense discussions, say company sources.
“We want to understand what the gaps are and try and rework the resolution plan,” say company sources. The consortium of Lakshdeep, Suraksha Realty, Kyati Realtors, Virtuous Finance, Dosti Realty, Sudhir Valia, Raksha Valia and Venerate Properties bid a total of Rs 10,314 crore for Jaypee.
Lakshdeep filed an intervening application in an ongoing case in the Supreme Court on May 11 seeking to extend the deadline for insolvency proceedings. The group had lined up Rs 3,500 crore as working capital for the completion of Jaypee’s housing projects.
“We are willing to revise the resolution plan and satisfy the lenders. For homebuyers, we have already lined up Rs 3,500 crore, we have a sanction letter and have promised to deliver apartments in a phased manner starting from the very first year. Homebuyers will be secured so far as possession is concerned. We are not taking any additional money from them. As for delay penalty, we would not want to get into those intricacies. That will come at the second stage. Possession is fully guaranteed and is a priority for us. Liquidation will not give them possession. We are guaranteeing them possession,” company sources say.
“The entire process has become a mockery. This may discourage credible corporates to participate in the process where it can be hijacked like this or delayed. One month back our plan was selected and a month later it was rejected by lenders. Our view is that NCLT should call all COC members at Allahabad itself and conduct their own monitoring, conduct everything because otherwise, the process is losing its sanctity. It should be done under the strict supervision of NCLT,” company sources said.
Company sources say that they were confident all along that their plan would be approved by the lenders. “There was no reason to believe that our plan would be rejected. On May 9 when voting happened, we were shocked and surprised by the decision of the COC members when they rejected our plans. They could have rejected one month earlier. We did not understand the reason, they did not communicate to us the reason of rejection. On May 11, we prayed before the SC. Now we firmly believe that the SC in the interest of justice would give us one more opportunity as buyers interest is also aligned with the outcome of the insolvency process,” company sources say, adding that they want to “understand the gaps and try and rework the resolution plan”.
On May 16, the apex court stayed the liquidation proceedings against Jaypee Infratech while asking the promoters to deposit Rs 1,000 crore by June 15 to refund homebuyers. The matter is expected to be heard on July 4.
SC had directed Jaypee to deposit Rs 2,000 crore in September last year. The company has so far deposited Rs 750 crore.
Lakshadweep Pvt Ltd, a joint venture formed between Sudhir Valia-led Suraksha Asset Reconstruction Company and Mumbai-based Dosti Realty, had emerged as the winner among bidders with a Rs 7,350 crore bid.
Lenders of Jaypee Infratech on May 9 rejected Lakshadweep Pvt Ltd’s offer to buy the bankrupt company as the bid was found too low. According to a note prepared by IDBI Bank, Jaypee’s largest lender, the company’s actual value stands at Rs 17,111 crore while its distress value is pegged at Rs 14,548 crore. Lakshadweep’s Rs 7,000 crore bid pegged Jaypee’s value at less than half of IDBI’s distress scenario number.
The company had offered to bring in Rs 3,500 crore upfront for the 25,000-apartment residential project coming up in Noida. Sudhir Valia is the brother-in-law of Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.
Resolution professional Anuj Jain had on October 27, 2017, invited companies, including real estate firms, with a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore to complete the delayed projects of Jaypee Infratech, including Noida’s Wish Town project, by infusing Rs 2,000 crore or more. Among the 18 companies that had shown interest in buying Jaypee Infratech three, namely, Lakshadweep, the Adani Group and the Kotak-Cube consortium, had been shortlisted.
Vandana.ramnani@nw18.com
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